There are many different systems and methods for authenticating a user in a computer environment (e.g., authenticating a user for a computer environment). Authenticating a user in a computer environment generally involves providing the user with the appropriate permission to access some or all of the features of a computerized device such as a computer terminal, mobile device (e.g., cell phone, smartphone, tablet computer, wearable computer, etc.), or permission to access a particular application hosted on a local or remote computer (e.g., an application service provider or cloud application), or to access a website or other information repository. These known methods typically involve the utilization of a username or user identification (e.g., user ID) and traditional alphanumeric passwords, PINS, “captcha” data entry, picture passwords, two-dimensional (2D) pattern tracing, among others.
As vision-based, hands-free input and display devices gain more traction in mainstream computing environments, there will be a growing need for systems and methods to authenticate users that do not rely on the traditional two-dimensional display and manual text entry schemes.